As mentioned in previous posts, we are finding that pollination seems to be resulting in decline of Heliconia tortuosa – species that we think is critical for many hummingbird species (we’ve seen > 8 species visiting this flower). In our next experiment, we are going to see what happens to hummingbird movement if this flower goes locally extinct.

Here is a photo of a female green hermit at her nest. Notice the radio transmitter attached to her back (which Adam used to find the nest in the first place). We will use transmitters like this to track movements of birds once heliconia density has been reduced (by covering flowers temporarily). MGB